Your World Tonight - Liberals expand dental care, Reverse migration, Forced sterilization survivors, and more

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

The federal Liberals announced today they will expand access to dental care. But with the news coming just one day before an election call, are the Liberals trying to kick the New Democrats in the teeth? Also: As the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration, a growing trend in reverse migration is emerging. The uncertainty at the U.S. border is leading many Latin American migrants to make the difficult trek back home. And: For decades, Indigenous women across Canada have been forced or coerced into getting sterilized right after giving birth. You'll hear the story of one woman who went through it, and has now reclaimed her body. Plus: An "Elbows Up" rally in Toronto, European countries threaten to pull out of the Ottawa treaty, robots in Japan's retirement homes, and more.

In Scarborough, there's this fire behind our eyes. A passion in our bellies. It's in the hearts of our neighbors. The eyes of our nurses. And the hands of our doctors. It's what makes Scarborough, Scarborough. In our hospitals, we do more than anyone thought possible. We've less than anyone could imagine.

But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Donate at lovescarborough.ca. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Juliane Hazelwood. This is Your World Tonight. In total, we're expecting an additional 4.5 million Canadians to be eligible for

dental coverage. We have to fight every step of the way to make this happen. Liberals had said no to us. We kept on going. Some Canadians may be smiling this weekend. The federal liberals say access to dental care is expanding. But with the news coming just one day before an election call, are the liberals trying to keep the new Democrats in the teeth? Also on the podcast, the Trump administration strips away legal status

for over half a million people in the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration. And that's leading to a trend in reverse migration, as a growing number of Latin American migrants make the difficult trek back home. And? The government was against me. Colonization was against me. But I beat it. I took back my womanhood.

A survivor of forced sterilization gets ready to welcome a new member to her family. Canadians will go to the polls in just over a month's time. Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to ask the Governor General tomorrow at noon to dissolve parliament. In a day ahead of the campaign kickoff, Carney's Liberals are already rolling out appeals to voters. Olivia Stevanovic joins me with more. Olivia, today the Liberals made an announcement on the expansion of dental care. What did they say? This is the biggest expansion to dental care since the program's inception, and it's coming on, as you mentioned, the eve of a federal election kickoff. Now, sources tell

CBC News that election day will be on Monday, April 28th. So over the course of the next five weeks of this campaign, you can expect to hear a lot more about this Liberal promise to expand dental care. Up to 5 million Canadians have been waiting to access this program. These are Canadians between the ages of 18 and 64 who make less than $90,000 per year. And starting in May, what the Liberals are promising is that these remaining eligible Canadians will be able to apply for dental coverage and could start receiving services as early as in June. And so Health Minister Kamal Khera was asked today why the Liberals waited until the last possible moment in their government's life cycle to

make this announcement. We knew there was going to be a phased out approach, but I'm really happy to say that the next cohort of eligible Canadians, that's nine million Canadians that will be covered under this plan. This is a commitment that we made to Canadians and we're super excited that we're able to deliver

on this commitment. But here's the thing, the implied message is that the Liberals will only be able to deliver this commitment if they win. It's not clear if the conservatives will keep dental care. The Tories voted against the creation of this program in parliament after they raised concerns that the cost could add to inflation. And the dental care plan has been pushed heavily by the NDP. How did their leader respond? Well, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was quick to point that out. New Democrats fought hard for this program and for a long time, and they faced, indeed,

liberal resistance. They were only able to see this program come about after they propped up the minority liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Now, Singh is trying to take full credit for the creation of this social program but he's going further than that now. He's also making a major accusation against Carney. Well I'm saying that nothing is safe when he's proposed cuts to the operating budget. What is in the operating budget for Canada? It includes things like dental care. So what services will he cut? So a quick fact check there. Carney says he is planning to balance the government's operating budget within three years,

but not cut it entirely as Singh suggested. But what Carney is promising is that he will keep dental care, and Carney has also stated that he wants to keep the government's other social programs such as $10 day daycare and pharma care. And what Singh is trying to do now is trying to paint Carney and conservative leader Pierre Poliev as one and the same, warning of cuts under both the liberals and conservatives. And of course, Poliev has not clearly stated whether he plans to keep or kill dental coverage for millions of Canadians.

Olivia, thanks so much for this. You're welcome. Olivia Stefanovic reporting from Ottawa. When the election is called Sunday, CBC Radio will be there for this. You're welcome. Olivia Stefanovic reporting from Ottawa. When the election is called Sunday, CBC Radio will be there for you. We'll have a live special ready for the launch of Canada's 45th general election. You'll get the latest news analysis from our hosts, Susan Bonner and Pia Chattapadhy, along with Catherine Cullen in Ottawa. Tune in to CBC Radio at 11 a.m. Eastern or stream it live on the CBC

News app. Just tap local. Downtown Toronto was a scene of unreserved patriotism today. Thousands of people rallied outside City Hall. They wore Canadian flags on their hats, painted on their faces and wrapped around their bodies. It was a sign of defiance against US President Donald Trump's stated desire to annex this country. Philpley Shannok was there. Like a hockey player heading into the corner to battle for the puck, people here say Elbows Up has become the rallying cry against an unprecedented threat to our sovereignty.

Kiana Che came here from Iran. She says it didn't take her long to see that Canada was worth fighting for. I just want Canada to be Canada. You know, I don't want to be part of the United States. Her friend Ali Salari moved to Edmonton from Iran. He says while he hasn't been here long, he felt it was important to wave the maple leaf. And I'm proud to be in Canada for one year.

And we don't want to be part of the US. People here say this rally is a direct response to US President Donald Trump's stated intent to annex Canada, a comment he's repeated and hasn't shied away from as recently as Friday. It's right next to us on our border. It would be a great state. It would be a cherished state. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Louis Pike came to Canada in 1968 to escape the draft when he was 22 years old. Today he's here to show that Canadians are united in their rejection of Trump's desire to make Canada the 51st state. Won't be bullied by capitalist imperialist Donald Trump who sees the world like a monopoly

board. I'll buy Greenland, I'll put a hotel on Gaza. Canadian entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson says Canadians have a reputation for being more modest in their displays of patriotism. This is that time where it's very important that we actually demonstrate vocally how important our nation is. We stand for what's right and we push back against anybody who's trying to take our nation away from us or our sovereignty is questioned in any way. It's great to feel like the country is sort of all pulling in the same direction. Organizer Peter Wall says just

like an earlier event in Ottawa these rallies are non-partisan and grassroots a chance for people to vent their frustration and show their pride. And we don't have any political elected officials from provincial or federal levels sitting or running up on stage. From elbows up to gloves off! Just as comedian Mike Myers popularized the elbows up slogan, blue rodeo singer Jim Cuddy has given the movement a theme song. We used to be the best of friends. Organizers are hoping communities across the country will unite to throw their own

Elbows Up events to send a message and signal that we Canadians are in this together. Viva la Canada! Philip E. Shannock, CBC News, Toronto. [♪techno music playing on the radio, with a beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up beat-up The government is now betting on a solution involving robots. That story later on Your World Tonight. A growing number of Latin American migrants are giving up on their American dreams and turning back from the U.S.-Mexico border, some of them making the long and difficult trek back through several countries and what officials are calling reverse migration. Manuel Rueda reports from Columbia. The Colombian town of Nacolqui has long been a transit point for migrants headed to the United

States. Now this small port on the Caribbean Sea is a stopover for hundreds of people who have decided to turn back. Kimberly Pareda, a Venezuelan migrant, traveled with her five-year-old son. We were in Mexico and we were hoping to get into the U.S., she says. But when Trump came into office, he made it impossible to cross the border. Many of the people arriving in Nicaragua are Venezuelan migrants who had been staying in Mexico for months while they tried to get an appointment to seek asylum at the US border using an app known as CBP-1. The app was cancelled by President Trump the day he came into office.

Without CBP-1 we had no choice but to return, says Kayla Chirinos, a Venezuelan migrant who was gathering her luggage at the dock in Nekocli. To go from Mexico to South America, migrants have to cross five countries, including Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. When they get to Panama, they have to pay $250 to get on boats that take them to Colombia, because there are no roads linking both countries. Kimberly Pereira says the boat trip was the scariest part. It's a horrible journey, she says.

The sea is very choppy and the boats are in poor condition. Panama's president, José Raúl Molino, said in a press conference that 4,000 migrants have crossed his country this year as they make their way back to South America. Last year, there were 300,000 people who crossed Panama on their way north, but the number of people going to the U.S. is now minimal according to Panama's government, which registered just 400 migrants headed north in February. Migration is under control now, Molino said. But some migrants say the rules are not clear on whether they can transit through Panama. Victor Pacheco, a Venezuelan migrant, says that in February he was detained by police

in Panama. He told them he was headed to Venezuela, but was sent back to Panama's border with Costa Rica. The way back home has been just as tough as going to the U.S. border, Pacheco says. Pacheco, who is still in Costa Rica, said that he will try to find some work there as he gathers enough money to cross through Panama again. Human rights groups in Costa Rica say that hundreds of migrants are getting stuck there as they run out of money to continue their journey home.

Manuel Rueda for CBC News, Bogota. Rescue workers pull a body from the rubble of a house in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine. Russian attacks overnight killed three people in the city. US mediated talks on a limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine are set to begin next week in Saudi Arabia. There are differing ideas of what such a pact could look like. The Kremlin says energy infrastructure will be spared from attacks, while the White House says a deal will cover energy and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Kiev hopes it will also include railways and ports. Against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine, four EU countries

are threatening to pull out of an international treaty banning landmines. Dominik Vlaitis explains. We have come together today to bring an end to the landmines epidemic. Established nearly three decades ago, 164 countries eventually signed up to the Ottawa Treaty, all agreeing to destroy their stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines. But this week, the defence ministers of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia recommended quitting the agreement, citing Russian aggression as the reason. Imants Legis is diplomatic adviser to Latvia's Minister of Defence Andris Sprouts.

The situation has not improved on the question of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Russia's hybrid attacks, general aggression against European and other countries. In addition, there have been certain concerns within society following the new administration coming into office in the United States of America. Poland and the Baltic countries have all pledged to uphold international law if their respective parliaments agree to leave the Ottawa Treaty. But the Red Cross worries other countries may follow their lead and leave the agreement and other humanitarian treaties like it. And the organisation's chief spokesperson,

Christian Cardon, doubts the military efficacy of anti-personnel landmines given they disproportionately harm civilians. In 2024, 80% of the people affected by anti-personnel landmines were civilians. And among these 80%, half of them are kids. Not to talk about the terrible consequences that these can have on the economy of a country. For a certain number of years, you basically paralyze vast lands where you cannot have agriculture, for example, where you cannot have tourism. The Ottawa Treaty has Canada in its DNA. The country's former Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy played a pivotal role in creating, promoting and implementing the agreement. The veteran diplomat partly blames the US for the defence minister's decision,

saying the trigger was pulled last year when Biden agreed to provide anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine. That really sort of for the first time really shattered the norm or the standard that had been set as a result and I predicted at the time that there would be a snowball effect or a knock-on effect coming out of that. And of course, that's been accentuated by Donald Trump's going even further, which is to say that what should have been, can be, the commitment to provide a security guarantee for countries bordering on Russia has now been basically withdrawn. Like the Red Cross, Axeworthy questions the military effectiveness of anti-personnel landmines and advocates for alternatives like drones to deter Russian aggression. But perhaps more worryingly, the Canadian who helped forge this landmark international agreement

views the four countries' potential withdrawal from it as part of a broader trend undermining the international legal order. Dominic Velasquez for CBC News, Riga Latvia. Pope Francis will be released from hospital Sunday. The Catholic leader has been in a Rome hospital since February 14th, battling pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors say Francis is not completely healed and his recovery will take a lot of time. They say when he returns to the Vatican, the Pope will need to rest for at least two months. For decades, Indigenous women across Canada have been forced or coerced into getting sterilized

right after giving birth, and for just as long kept quiet about it. But a national gathering recently held in Ottawa brought hundreds of survivors together to share their stories, including a mother of four who was sterilized and has now reclaimed her body. Juanita Taylor has her story tonight. I need my moss bag ready. I need my crib ready. Katie Baer considers this time of her life a miracle. She's about to become a mother again, 20 years after she was sterilized. It happened to me when I was so young, I was 21. She's from the Matawan North Bay Algonquin

First Nation and lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At 41 years old, she is about to give birth to her fifth child. Right after giving birth to her fourth child, doctors at a Saskatoon hospital performed a tubal ligation on Bear, a surgical procedure to prevent pregnancy by blocking, clipping or removing a woman's fallopian tubes. I was told that because I was 21 and had four kids that I probably shouldn't have anymore, that my kids would be taken away by child and family services. Bear says she was coerced into signing the consent form without fully understanding the procedure. It was a form of birth control that it was reversible.

For years after, she lived with the fact she wasn't able to have any more children, so she recently got reversal surgery and conceived. The government was against me, colonization was against me, but I beat it. I took back my womanhood. Bayer has had support along the way. In 2017, she met Métis Senator Yvonne Boyer, who was conducting an external review of the Saskatoon Health Region to investigate reports of forced sterilization. That review contributed to the Saskatchewan Health Authority implementing a policy in 2021 to end its practice to perform postpartum tubal ligations unless agreed to by the woman well in advance. She looked at me and she said it wasn't right.

Boyer says she found racism in the health care system. From her own research as a senator, she discovered it was a problem right across Canada. My office counted at least 12,000. And in 2022, Boyer introduced Bill S-250, which would see forced sterilization become a criminal act. The bill passed the Senate and was moved to the House of Commons, which is currently prorogued. I'm not giving up, not until this is law.

Baer has traveled to Ottawa, where she attends a national gathering of women who have also been sterilized. The gathering is organized by the Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice in Ottawa. Harmony Redsky is the executive director. She says forced sterilization goes back decades. The survivors have described to us they often feel so alone and isolated in their experience some have never ever told anybody. The circle is also generating a national registry to keep count of survivors and to offer healing support funds. The national gathering is where Bear shares her story of triumph at a presentation to the nearly 100 survivors there.

And it needs to be talked about. It's not just a movement, it's breaking cycles. And on March 20th, Bear gave birth to a healthy baby girl she named Sage, which she says means the medicine of hope. Wynita Taylor, CBC News, Ottawa. No region on earth is aging faster than East Asia. According to UN estimates, one in three people across the sub-region could be over 65 years old by 2050. In Japan, the government is looking to robots to come to the rescue. Many Japanese nursing homes already rely on robot technology to support

seniors. And the government hopes in just a few years, nearly all nursing homes will have robot helpers. Cathy Sunei has that story. Junichi Shimoyama and Mariko Echizuka from Silver Wing Nursing Home enter the residence of senior couple Yoshino and Koji Matsuba in Tokyo. My mother is busy. She's busy. She's heating up the food. The apartment is small and crowded, with large photos of the couple on the walls. Yoshino and Koji will be taken to Silver Wing for the day to receive care, food and medication.

On the way to the nursing home, caregiver Shimoyama explains that this couple is alone, suffers from dementia and doesn't have family members to help. It's a situation that has become more common for seniors in Japan. At the entrance of the nursing home, a small robot called Paro greets visitors. Yoshino Matsuba answers back. Later on, Yoshino takes Paro, a robot sealed in her arms. Her husband, Koji Matsuba, says he's not a fan of robots. I know they want to help with robots, but I don't like robots. It's not my type.

I feel pity when I'm in contact with robots. The robot tries to comfort us, but it doesn't work with me," he says. While Palau asks seniors if they know their blood type, director Mariko Echizuka says robots have become an asset for nursing homes. Iizuka says robots have become an asset for nursing homes. I believe in the positive development of robots. We'll need more and more workers with the aging population. We won't be able to find all the manpower we need. Robots will certainly help greatly, she says. At another nursing home in Tokyo, caregiver Toshio Ono starts Pepper's singing session

in the dining room. Pepper is a humanoid robot using its arms to perform the song. Then he shows how a chair with robotic technology helps him climb the stairs. He finds it helpful but says buying the latest devices can be expensive. Well, frankly, all the robots we have in this facility are rather old, but I have friends working in the same field and they tell me there are more performant robots with AI, he says. Hi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Hideyuki Muranaka, police planning officer at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,

says that 30% of care homes in Japan use robots. Of course, for the moment, we're very far from a robot revolution in Japan. But we have another objective. By 2029, we want 90 percent of the nursing homes using robots, he says. He adds the transition has faced some resistance from nursing homes, but the Japanese government hopes subsidies will encourage more homes to use robot technology. Kat Sissonne, CBC News, Tokyo. CBC's Kat Sissounez went to Japan with the media fellowship program of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

And finally, that's a recording of the Beatles before they were signed to a record deal. Just a group of unknowns at that point looking to be discovered. The reel is dated January 1, 1962, a few months before Ringo Starr joined the band. And get this, the piece of music history was stored for years on the back shelves of a Vancouver record store, until it was found by this guy, Neptune Records owner Rob Frith. We put it on and it was like, it was like unbelievable.

It's like the Beatles were in the room with us. That's the part that made Rob realize he had something really special, the quality. It became clear it wasn't a bootleg. He connected with a former record label owner who brought the demo over from the UK in the early 70s. Through the years, Rob bought tapes from collectors and engineers, and somehow the reel ended up at his shop.

All this early material that they were just there doing a demo, trying to get a deal with Decca Records. That's the kicker, the demo tape, the Beatles auditory plea to be discovered. DECA Records passed. Passed on the Beatles. Of course it all worked out for the lads from Liverpool and despite what may be a very valuable collector's item Rob says he'll gladly return the tape to the right person. People keep telling me it's worth like tens of thousands or maybe even a hundred thousand dollars but I've put it out there and meet in social media now that if Paul comes over, Paul McCartney,

I'll give it to him. A night out on the town with Paul McCartney in Vancouver. The invitation has been issued. That's what I want, that's what I want. This has been Your World Tonight for Saturday, March 22nd, 2025. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Take care. Money don't get everything it's due, but what it don't get, I and you don't want money. That's what I want. That's what I want. That's what I want. That's what I want.